Ancestors In a Little Blue and a Lot of Gray: Father & Son in the Texas Cavalry: George Brown Daniel and John Brown Daniel

I previously wrote about John Green Daniel. I figured an easy follow up would be his 1st cousin, John Brown Daniel. John Brown and his father, George Brown Daniel served in different Cavalry Companies from Texas. Although both father and son served, this was not a typical "follow your father to war" situation. John Brown enlisted in the Confederate Army almost a year and a half before his father. George Brown Daniel volunteered his services to the Confederacy after his son was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War in July of 1863.

6th Texas Cavalry Flag

John Brown Daniel was born in Van Buren, Jackson County, Missouri on March 16, 1843. By 1850, the Daniel family had relocated to Grayson County, Texas. John's father, George was born in Caswell County, North Carolina on September 7, 1817. Sometime in the 1820's the Daniel family moved from North Carolina to Missouri.

John traveled to Camp McIntosh, Arkansas and enlisted in Company D of the Texas 6th Cavalry on March 4, 1862, just 12 days shy of his 19th birthday.

John Brown Daniel's 1st Muster

Unfortunately for John, the unit had been dismounted, meaning their horses had been sent back to Texas, on April 15, 1862. For the first 4 months of his enlistment, the 6th Texas Cavalry operated as an infantry unit. In late August of 1862, detailing parties from each of the Unit's regiments were sent back to Texas to gather the horses. The 6th Texas Cavalry was going to be remounted. Before their horses could arrive, the 6th was engaged in the Battle of Cornith in early October. By early November, the 6th Texas Cavalry along with the 3rd and 27th, were remounted and organized into the Texas Cavalry Brigade. The 9th Texas Cavalry would later join for the raid at Holly Springs.

John was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War during a raid in Yazoo City, Mississippi on July 19, 1863.

Prisoner List showing John's Capture

He was originally sent to Snyder's Bluff, Mississippi on July 30, 1863.

POW roll

John was sent from Snyder's Bluff to Camp Morton, Indiana. On March 7, 1864, he was transferred to the illustrious Fort Delaware.

John's transfer to Fort Delaware

John would remain at Fort Delaware until June 9, 1865 when he took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and was finally released.

John's Oath of Allegiance

John's capture surely was a motivator for his 47 year old father's enlistment. George Brown Daniel enlisted in Company C of the Texas 15th Cavalry Battalion on August 3, 1863, just 18 days after his son was captured by Union troops.

Enlistment card for George Brown Daniel

The 15th Texas Cavalry had been unmounted since April of 1862. They were consolidated with the 6th and 10th Texas Infantry Regiments in July of 1863.

Flag of the 15th Texas Cavalry

The above pictured flag was carried by the 15th from the fall of 1864 through the wars end. From the Texas State Archives:

The regiments carried this flag through the bloody carnage at the Battle of Franklin, the disaster at the Battle of Nashville, and up to the final surrender in May 1865. Several Texans died carrying this flag and it is said the blood of some of them can still be seen on the cloth. Rather than surrendering the flag, Mark Kelton of the 6th Texas took it from its staff and carried it back to Texas. He donated the flag to the State Archives in 1885, where it has been stored ever since.

The 15th Texas Cavalry participated in the following engagements:

Chickamauga, 19-20 September 1863
Chattanooga Siege, September - November 1863
Chattanooga, 23-25 November 1863
Atlanta Campaign, May - September 1864
Picketts Mill, 27 May 1864
New Hope Church, 27 June 1864
Atlanta Siege, July - September 1864
Jonesborro, 31 August - 01 September 1864
Franklin, 30 November 1864
Nashville, 15 - 16 December 1864 Carolinas Campaign , February - April 1865
Bentonville, 19-21 March 1865

The unit surrendered with General Joseph E. Johntson's Army of Tennessee on April 25, 1865 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Fortunately for the Daniel's, both father and son would survive the war. George Brown Daniel lived an additional 16 years following the war. He died in 1881 in Trenton, Fannin County, Texas. His burial location is not known at the time of this entry,

John Brown Daniel lived for 59 years following the war. He died on January 30, 1925 in Morgan Mill, Erath County, Texas. He is buried in the Morgan Mill Cemetery in Erath County.

Grave of John Brown Daniel

Here's my relation to George:

George Brown Daniel (1817 - 1881)

is your 1st cousin 6x removed

James Key Daniel (1766 - 1851)

Father of George Brown

Josiah Daniel (1744 - 1811)

Father of James Key

William Ford Daniel (1774 - 1848)

Son of Josiah

L. Chesley Daniel (1806 - 1882)

Son of William Ford

William Henry "Buck" Daniel (1827 - 1896)

Son of L. Chesley

Phebe Lucy Daniel (1862 - 1946)

Daughter of William Henry "Buck"

Valeria Lee Moss (1890 - 1968)

Daughter of Phebe Lucy

Phebe Teresa Wheeler Lewis (1918 - 1977)

Daughter of Valeria Lee

Joyce Elaine Lewis (1948 - )

Daughter of Phebe Teresa

Chip Stokes

You are the son of Joyce

Here's my relation to John:

John Brown Daniel (1843 - 1925)

is your 2nd cousin 5x removed

George Brown Daniel (1817 - 1881)

Father of John Brown